The Past is Unpredictable, Only the Future is Certain
by Vuma Levin
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Streaming + DownloadIncludes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.Purchasable with gift card
€8 EUR or more
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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital AlbumDigipack version of The Past is Unpredictable, Only The Future is Certain
Includes unlimited streaming of The Past is Unpredictable, Only the Future is Certain via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.ships out within 3 daysPurchasable with gift card€12.99 EUR or more
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1. |
Yaka Yaka
06:54
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2. |
Gijima
10:32
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3. |
Capela
06:37
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4. |
Wash'uMuti
09:22
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5. |
Concertina
02:49
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6. |
Homily
07:39
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7. |
Rites
06:34
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8. |
After Her
03:01
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about
Vuma Levin is a multi-award-winning guitar player and one of the leading talents in South African jazz. In September 2021, Vuma Levin achieved a major milestone in his career when he was named the Standard Bank Young Artist for Jazz, a coveted award that is widely recognized as the highest honor for an artist in South Africa. His new album, an orchestral undertaking titled The Past is Unpredictable: Only the Future is Certain, is an attempt to create a work that is commensurate with the scale of this achievement.
Recorded across three cities, Johannesburg, Basel and Amsterdam, the album features some of contemporary jazz’s most important young voices, including (but not limited to) Ben van Gelder (Netherlands, Saxophone), Xavi Torres (Piano, Spain), Bokani Dyer (South Africa, Piano), Shane Cooper (South Africa, Bass) and Matthias Spillman (Switzerland, Trumpet).
Conceptually and aesthetically, the project utilizes South African traditional indigenous musical practices and instrumentation as its basis. These are reread and reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary South African jazz, popular music, innovations emerging out of the nascent new music, improvised and jazz scenes in Switzerland and the Netherlands and the orchestral dimensions of Western Art music.
The compositions are based on transcriptions and analysis of pre-colonial, traditional nguni-sotho choral and gourd bow music. Materials extracted from this process were then combined and recombined with the aforementioned genres. As a result, the instrumentation of the ensemble is entirely novel – traditional South African bow, percussion, vocals and finger piano instruments are placed at the center of a jazz quintet, horn trio and string quartet orchestrations. The combination of these influences takes the listener on a sonic journey that traverses the rural areas and hinterlands of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal, the townships of Soweto and Khayelitsha, the jazz theatres of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Basel, Geneva, Bern, Amsterdam and Rotterdam and the classical concert halls dotted throughout the European capitals.
Recorded across three cities, Johannesburg, Basel and Amsterdam, the album features some of contemporary jazz’s most important young voices, including (but not limited to) Ben van Gelder (Netherlands, Saxophone), Xavi Torres (Piano, Spain), Bokani Dyer (South Africa, Piano), Shane Cooper (South Africa, Bass) and Matthias Spillman (Switzerland, Trumpet).
Conceptually and aesthetically, the project utilizes South African traditional indigenous musical practices and instrumentation as its basis. These are reread and reinterpreted through the lens of contemporary South African jazz, popular music, innovations emerging out of the nascent new music, improvised and jazz scenes in Switzerland and the Netherlands and the orchestral dimensions of Western Art music.
The compositions are based on transcriptions and analysis of pre-colonial, traditional nguni-sotho choral and gourd bow music. Materials extracted from this process were then combined and recombined with the aforementioned genres. As a result, the instrumentation of the ensemble is entirely novel – traditional South African bow, percussion, vocals and finger piano instruments are placed at the center of a jazz quintet, horn trio and string quartet orchestrations. The combination of these influences takes the listener on a sonic journey that traverses the rural areas and hinterlands of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu Natal, the townships of Soweto and Khayelitsha, the jazz theatres of Johannesburg, Cape Town, Basel, Geneva, Bern, Amsterdam and Rotterdam and the classical concert halls dotted throughout the European capitals.
credits
released May 19, 2023
Vuma Ian Levin - Guitar, Voice (on track 1, 5), Bass (on track 8), Effects, Compositions
Bernard van Rossum - Saxophones (on track, 2, 3, 4)
Xavi Torres - Vicente Piano, Rhodes Keyboard, Organ (on track 1, 2, 3, 4)
Marco Zenini - Acoustic Bass (on track 2, 3, 4, 6)
Jeroen Batterink - Drums
Sisonke Xonti - Saxophones (on track 6, 7)
Bokani Dyer - Piano, Rhodes Keyboards (on track 6, 7)
Benjamin Jephta - Electric Bass (on track 6, 7)
Shane Cooper - Acoustic Bass (on track 1, 5), Sound Design (on track 1)
Cara Stacey - Dende, Makhoyane, Umrhubhe, Nyunga-Nyunga, Budongo, Umtshingo
Tlale Makhene - Emantjomane, Ngoma, Spoken Word
Tijn Wybenga - Arrangements
Pablo Rodriguez - Violin
Oene van Geel - Viola
George Dumitriu - Viola
Paul Sola - Cello
Andreas Tschopp - Trombone
Matthias Spillman - Trumpet
Domenic Landolf - Bass Clarinet
Ben van Gelder - Alto Saxophone (on track 1)
Marta Arpini - Voice (on track 8)
Mixed by Chris Weeda (track 2, 3, 4, 6, 7) and Dave Vettraino (track 1, 5, 8)
Mastered by Dave Cooley
Artwork by Lisolomzi Pikoli
Cover design by Jurgen Meekel
Vuma Ian Levin - Guitar, Voice (on track 1, 5), Bass (on track 8), Effects, Compositions
Bernard van Rossum - Saxophones (on track, 2, 3, 4)
Xavi Torres - Vicente Piano, Rhodes Keyboard, Organ (on track 1, 2, 3, 4)
Marco Zenini - Acoustic Bass (on track 2, 3, 4, 6)
Jeroen Batterink - Drums
Sisonke Xonti - Saxophones (on track 6, 7)
Bokani Dyer - Piano, Rhodes Keyboards (on track 6, 7)
Benjamin Jephta - Electric Bass (on track 6, 7)
Shane Cooper - Acoustic Bass (on track 1, 5), Sound Design (on track 1)
Cara Stacey - Dende, Makhoyane, Umrhubhe, Nyunga-Nyunga, Budongo, Umtshingo
Tlale Makhene - Emantjomane, Ngoma, Spoken Word
Tijn Wybenga - Arrangements
Pablo Rodriguez - Violin
Oene van Geel - Viola
George Dumitriu - Viola
Paul Sola - Cello
Andreas Tschopp - Trombone
Matthias Spillman - Trumpet
Domenic Landolf - Bass Clarinet
Ben van Gelder - Alto Saxophone (on track 1)
Marta Arpini - Voice (on track 8)
Mixed by Chris Weeda (track 2, 3, 4, 6, 7) and Dave Vettraino (track 1, 5, 8)
Mastered by Dave Cooley
Artwork by Lisolomzi Pikoli
Cover design by Jurgen Meekel
license
all rights reserved
tags
about
Dox Records Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Official webshop of Dox Records, Amsterdam, NL.
Artists: Benjamin Herman, Reinier Baas, Idema/Serierse, Tivon Pennicott, Vuma Levin, Deadeye, New Cool Collective and more.
discography
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May 2024 -
May 2024 -
Apr 2024 -
Feb 2024
contact / help
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